Quotes from Bill Shorten inquiry hearing

QUOTES FROM BILL SHORTEN'S APPEARANCE AT UNIONS ROYAL COMMISSION:

"The fact I was running for parliament and they (AWU members) were supporting me was possibly as well-known as Eddie McGuire being the president of Collingwood."

- Labor leader Bill Shorten on his 2007 election campaign

"I can't even remember who won the Derby ... I wouldn't put it beyond myself to drop in to have a beer, but also I have to say that I like going to the races - the spring carnival is an excellent time of year."

- Shorten, asked about his attending a 2006 event sponsored by company Cleanevent at the Melbourne races

"Sometimes being mentioned in the commission can embarrass people, even when they are perfectly innocent."

- Shorten on the mystery female campaign staffer who asked not to be named.

"I don't know if lawyers from different sides of arguments occasionally might play golf together, (but) I do not immediately make an assumption that justice is not working."

- Shorten on socialising with business colleagues

"How the union conducted its relationship in terms of invoicing with the company is just not a matter which I was directly involved in."

- Shorten on labour hire company Unibilt

"I have discovered in very recent times that there was an incomplete form sent to the ALP head office and ... I take ultimate responsibility for that."

- Shorten on not having declared the donation of his 2007 campaign director's pay to the electoral commission

"What I did once I saw all the royal commission papers, I went back and I have sought legal advice, worked out what needed to be done and I have now completed that."

- Shorten on updating his 2007 electoral commission return on Monday

"Isn't that a situation in which you're using your position as national secretary to gain an advantage for yourself, namely a full-time campaign worker?"

- Senior counsel for the royal commission, Jeremy Stoljar

"The idea that somehow having a discussion with an employer on two different topics ... assumes that whenever there is a donation in our electoral system, by anyone, that all other relationships and transactions must immediately be cast into doubt. That is not right."

- Shorten on the principle of donations

"As national secretary I had authority to ... commit the resources to political campaigning."

- Shorten on whether he asked AWU members about using their money for his political campaign in 2007.

"If at this stage you feel you need a break, it is a long day, you can."

- Royal commissioner Dyson Heydon.